Orchard heater



March 4, 1924 1,485,534

3 C. SKINNER ORCHARD HEATER- Filed July 15 1923 IN V EN TOR.

y ATTORNEYS.

Patented Mar. 4, 1924.

BRONSON SKINNER, OF DUNEDIN, FLORIDA, ASSIGNOB TO SKINNER MACHINERY COMPANY, OF DUNEDIN, FLORIDA, CORPORATION OF FLORIDA.

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Application filed July 13, 1923. Serial No. 651,282.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, BRONSON C. SKINNER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Dunedin, in the county of Pinellas and State of Florida, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Orchard Heaters, of which the following is a specification.

The present invention comprises an orchard heater of such construction that the parts thereof may be quickly assembled without the use of bolts or securing means ordinarily employed for uniting or holding togetherthe associated structural members "of a heater, the structure of the present heater being such as to permit ofits members to be quickly taken apart or dismounted to enable the same, if so desired, to be shipped from place of manufacture to distant points in a knocked down condition and quickly assembled when desired for use in connection with the heating of orchards; the object of the invention being the production of an orchard heater economical in its construction, cheap as to manufacture and yet efiicient for the work required.

To comprehend the invention reference should be had to the accompanying sheet of drawings, wherein Fig. 1 is a view of the heater in assembled condition.

Fig. 2 is a cross sectional plan view taken on the line 2-2, Fig. 1 of the drawings.

Fig. 3- is a broken detailed view of the grate bar of the heater with one of the supporting legs assembled therewith.

Fig. 4 is a sectional side view in elevation of the parts disclosed by Fig. 3 of the drawings.

Fig. 5 is abroken detail perspective viewof the grate bar.

Fig. 6 is=a broken perspective view disclosing the upper portion of one of the supporting legs of the orchard heater.

Fig. 7 is a broken detailed plan view dis closing the manner of securing the body in closed or cylindrical form.

In the drawings, the numeral 1 is used to designate the body ofthe orchard heater, 2 the grate thereof arranged within the lower ortion of the body structure when the b0 y is placed in cylindrical form or closed. The side orfree e are flanged over to provi e interlocking es of the body legs are formed with supporting shoulders 9 onto which the grate bar rests and is supported when the parts are in assembled relation; the dove-tailed head 7 of the leg sliding within the dove-tailed seat 6 of. the

grate, so that when the leg is fitted to the grate bars the same are held so to speak interlocked one with the other. tailed head 7 of the supporting legs 8 are each formed with an outwardly projected stud 10,"preferably circular in cross section and these studs fit through the perforations or openings 11 formed in the bottom portion of the body 1.

When it is desired to assemble the orchard heater for the holding of coke or other The dovefuel medium, the leg members 8 are assembled relative to the grate 2 by. the dovetailed head extensions 7 of the legs being slidably fitted within the dove-tailed seat 6 of the grate, so that at such time ,the grate bar is held in position by the wedging effect of the leg members 8 applied thereto and prevented from disengaging with the leg members due to the fact that at such time the under surface of the grate .rests upon the shoulders 9 of the legs. The body 1 which is then in flattened condition is bent or curved around the assembled grate and legs, the projections or studs 10 of. the supporting legs 8 fitting through the openings 11 formed in the lower portion of the body member and the body is united and held in cylindrical form so as to embrace the grate by the hooked edges 5 and 5' thereof being placed in locked engagement. As thus assembled the supporting legsand the grate 2 are embraced by the body member 1 and securely held thereto on the hooked edges of, the body 1 being placed in locked engagement. It will thus be noted that the various members of the orchard heater are assembled and held in locked engagement one with the other without the employment of bolts, screws or other non-associated mechanical attaching members.

To disengage or place the orchard heater in knocked down formation, it is only necessary to compress the body member 1 until the hooked edges 5-5 thereof are disengaged, when the spring of the metal will separate or flatten out the body and disengage the same from the lugs of the supporting legs 8 so as to release the grate and the supporting legs from the body member, after which the legs are slipped from engagement with the grate and the heater thus placed in a knocked down or disassembled condition.

It is obvious from the foregoing that the parts of the orchard heater may be constructed or manufactured at one point and shipped in a knocked down condition to consumers or users of orchard heaters situated at distant points and at such points be placed in assembled condition for use in the orchards. By this construction a larger number of orchard heaters may be shipped than when in assembled or made up condition; thereby materially reducing the cost of transportation or shipment of orchard heaters and inasmuch as the orchard heater is capable of being quickly dismantled or placed in disassembled condition, less storage room is required to take care of the heaters after a seasons use than where it is required to store the same in assembled condition and furthermore, the interior structural parts of the heater are accessible at all times for the cleaning thereof and for repair purposes.

When the orchard heater is in assembled condition and ready for use, air for supporting combustion therein is admitted to the interior thereof through the draft inlet openings 12 formed circumferentially thereof and adjacent to its bottom end, and the said heater is provided with the usual swinging handle or bail 13 to enable the same to be conveniently moved from place to place.

Due to the arrangement of the associated members of the heater and the ease and facility with which said members may be assembled and dismantled, the said constructed orchard heater may be considered and treated as one composed of self-interlocking members, in contra-distinction to the present mechanical unitized secured members. In other words, the \present orchard heater is a collapsible one in its entirety and made so for simplicity of construction and ease as to transportation of its parts.

Any form of supporting legs which when assembled relative to their cooperating mem-' bers will support and uphold the same against displacement, may be employed in the carrying out of my invention, just so long asthe same co-act with the body member for inter-locking with the same when placed in cylindrical or closed formation and by so doing serving to maintain the grate of the heater in proper relation with the body member.

While the head portion of the supporting legs is disclosed as dove-tailed for inter-locking with suitably shaped seats formed in the grate member of the heater and provided with shouldered extensions for supporting the grate when the said parts stand in assembled relation, and further provided with laterally projecting lug extensions for engagement with openings formed in the body of the heater for receiving the same as placed in cylindrical or closed formation, it is obvious that the sup-porting legs may be constructed in various forms or shapes for securing interlockability with their cooperating members of the orchard heater. Further, while the body member of the heater is preferably provided with flanged interlocking edges for the holding of the same in proper shape when the parts of the heater are placed in assembled position, it is apparent that any suitable form of locking means may be resorted to for maintaining the said body in closed position relative to its associated structural members.

While the invention has been illustrated and described in its preferred embodiment, I do not wish to be understood as limiting or confining the invention to such detailed construction of its structural parts, but, on the contrary, wish to be understood as claiming the invention as broadly as the state of the art will warrant.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letkters Patent, is:

1. A knock down orchard heater, the same comprising a grate member provided with seats fbr the reception of supporting leg members, supporting legs carrying a head extension adapted to interlock with and support the grate member and provided. with means for interlocking with the body member of the heater, and a foldable body adapted to embrace the legs and grate members of the heater when placed in closed condition and provided with means for holding the edges thereof in locked engagement.

'2. In combination with a foldable body member of an orchard heater, of a grate member adapted to be supported therein, and supporting leg members adapted to interlock with the grated members for the support thereof and provided with means for interlocking with the body member when held in closed formation.

3. In combination with the grate memberable body member, a grate therefor, and supporting legs adapted to inter-lock with the grate member and with the body member when placed in closed position.

5. In a foldable orchard heater and in combination with the grate thereof, of a plurality of supporting legs each carrying a head extension for inter-locking with and supporting the grate member and provided with means for interlocking with the body member when placed in closed position.

6. An orchard heater comprising a foldable body member provided with means for holding the same in closed position, a grate provided with a plurality of dove-tailed seats, a plurality of supporting legs each provided with a dove-tailed head extension for interlocking with the seats of the grate and shouldered extensions for supporting the grate when the members are interlocked, said supporting legs being provided with stud extensions for engaging with the body member of the heater as placed in closed condition to embrace the legs and grate.

7. A disengageable orchard heater, the same comprising a foldable body member, a grate member and supporting leg member, said respective members provided with means whereby the same are adapted for interlocking one with the other on the body member being placed in closed position, and said body member carrying means for holding the side edges thereof in locked engagement.

8. An orchard heater comprising a foldable body member, a grate member for mounting relative to the body member, and

supporting leg members provided with means adapted to inter-lock with the grate member and the body member on the latter member being placed in closed condition.

9(An orchard heater comprising afoldable body member provided with means for holding the side edges thereof in locked position, a grate member adapted for mounting within the body member when same is in closed position, supporting leg member carrying means for inter-locking with and supporting the grate member, and means carried by said leg members for interlocking with the body member when in closed condition to embrace the legs and grate.

10. Thecombination'in an orchard heater, of a dismountable grate member provided with a plurality of seats for the reception of leg, members, of supporting leg members provided with a head extension adapted to inter-lock with the grate member for the support thereof and carrying a lug extension for interlocking with the body member of the heater.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

BRONSON C. SKINNER. 

